Your Favorite Old Jacket, Re-Engineered by Piombo

MILAN — The style of Milanese brand Piombo is rooted in a kind of gentlemanly nonchalance that — with a hefty dollop of sprezzatura — is part and parcel of the Italian psyche. But it also owes much to Anglo-Saxon heritage. A fogeyish, not quite dandyish leaning — one that emerged here last winter and continues in men's fashion today — has made Piombo's colorful play of pattern and texture suddenly right on the money. Think needle cord pants, a washed and unlined Shetland double-breasted jacket, flannel shirts, and pale paisley scarves. Things appear deliberately worn-in, even discreetly hand-mended, like a favorite old jacket. "Piombian elegance" is what owner Massimo Piombo calls the look in the little tome given he handed out at his presentation here on Sunday — a glossary of venerable all the English cloths used in his collection. Mr. Piombo further enlightened us with plans for a store in New York — the first outside Milan — come fall. Good news, indeed.